And Tempered in Truth
by liketolaugh
Summary: Foaly never actually pulled location surveillance on Artemis, and when he goes into the one area monitored by neither humans, nor fairies, he can't help but be suspicious. Holly just wants to know how they missed this. Sequel to 'A Heart Forged in Steel'.
1. Blank Spot

**A/N: Aaaand the sequel! I'm pretty sure I only mentioned it to a few of you, but I've been planning this for a while and I have a decent idea of how it's going to work. It should at least be smoother, being that it won't take place over a whole damn year. Hope you like!**

**Title: And Tempered in Truth**

**Author: liketolaugh**

**Rating: T**

**Pairings: None**

**Genre: Friendship/Drama**

**Warnings: Earth!AU for Fullmetal Alchemist (Amestris is an isolated country located somewhere south of Russia, on the border between Europe and Asia) and slight AU for Artemis Fowl - the events of The Arctic Incident are all shunted forward a year.**

**Summary: Foaly never actually pulled location surveillance on Artemis, and when he goes into the one area monitored by neither humans, nor fairies, he can't help but be suspicious. Holly just wants to know how they missed this.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Artemis Fowl, nor the Fullmetal Alchemist. 'Tis but a dream.**

* * *

_This situation, _Artemis thought, _seemed unnervingly familiar._

Not a few months after he'd fully recovered, Artemis' father made a decision that was among the most important in his life, right up there with deciding to accompany his ships into the Bay of Kola:

Artemis Fowl Senior was going to get automail.

This was a decision that worried Angeline; she had, after all, heard horror stories about the process. The way she'd heard it, surgery was hell, rehabilitation was hell, and even the automail itself was at times a form of hell.

Artemis supposed that her concern was somewhat warranted.

Artemis Senior, though, reassured Angeline, repeatedly telling her that yes, he was certain and yes, he could handle it.

It took some convincing nonetheless, but not one word could convince Angeline to let her husband go alone.

And when Artemis quietly recommended the Rockbells, neither of his parents said a word.

Butler didn't do much to hide his automail.

Artemis' second trip to Amestris, unlike the first, drew the attention of more than just the locals.

Though Foaly had pulled surveillance on Artemis' communications after the B'wa Kell incident, he had soon replaced them with a system that monitored his location. So when Artemis Fowl went off the radar, Foaly noticed.

He squinted at the screen, frowning, one hand coming up to adjust his tinfoil hat. Now that was odd.

He'd been aware of the blank spot, of course. It was hard not to notice the small land area that all human satellites carefully steered clear of, and since most of his sensors piggybacked on human technology, there had been no way of getting a reading without going out of his way. The effort had just never seemed worthwhile; hardly anyone, even humans, went in or came out of the comparatively small region, and it was just generally far too much trouble for far too little gain.

Only now, Artemis was entering the blank region.

Foaly pressed a button, called in a favor, and within the hour, Holly was on her way, too.

They got off the train at Resembool station and Artemis Senior's confidence visibly wavered at the country town, but Artemis reassured him,

"Even the automail engineers in Rush Valley say that the Rockbells are the best."

In a stroke of faith that the old Artemis Senior would never have shown, he nodded at his son, smiled slightly, and followed him to the house marked with the clear sign 'Rockbell Automail'.

He knocked on the door, balancing slightly awkwardly on his traditional prosthetic, and within minutes the door was answered, Pinako squinting up at the newcomers with narrow, sharp eyes.

She took in the prosthetic on Artemis Senior's leg with the air of a practiced professional (which she was) and, like Butler's missing arm had been two years before, that was explanation enough. Unlike Winry, though, Pinako only nodded and said "I see" before she took in his companions.

Her old, but quick eyes skimmed over Angeline, who subtly helped support the elder Artemis, and soon found Artemis and Butler, lighting briefly with surprise and recognition. "Oh, Artemis, Butler. It's good to see you two." To Artemis, "Are these your parents?"

Artemis nodded.

Pinako nodded crisply. "Very well. Come in, then. You'll be wanting your automail as soon as possible, yes?"

"Yes," Angeline agreed for him, one arm on her husband's. "Tomorrow, if at all possible."

Pinako turned to reenter and 'hm'ed a confirmation. "Yes, tomorrow should be entirely possible."

They entered the still-familiar living room and Artemis instantly zeroed in on a pair of familiar figures. His eyebrows rose.

"Edward? Alphonse? What on _earth _are the pair of you here for?"

Edward, clearly startled, looked up at him. He shifted slightly to turn around, revealing Artemis' answer for him; the guard plate of his right arm was gone, and the inner workings appeared to be damaged. He broke into a grin and waved. "Artemis!" he greeted. "And hey, Butler!"

Al started, looking up, and soulfire eyes lit up. "Oh, Artemis, Butler! You're back!"

Butler smiled slightly and Artemis dipped his head. Artemis Senior looked over at him, one eyebrow raised and mouth quirked ironically.

"Artemis? Someone you know?" Surprise danced under his voice, and with good reason; Artemis had very few friends his age. Absolutely none, in fact.

Aside, of course, from Edward and Alphonse.

"Yes, as a matter of fact," Artemis replied, crossing the room to stand by Edward and cock an eyebrow down at his broken arm. "Butler and I met the pair of them while Edward was going through automail rehabilitation himself."

"It's good to meet any friend of Artemis'," Angeline told them sincerely, smiling slightly.

Edward laughed a little. "What, he doesn't make a lot of friends? That doesn't surprise me."

Angeline smiled ruefully, and Artemis merely shrugged; most people simply weren't worth making friends with.

Artemis Senior looked at Edward's arm with a mixture of regret and interest. Regret, of course, that someone Ed's age would need such a thing; this new version of his father was by far more empathetic and moral.

More to the point, though, Artemis Senior's main concern since Artemis had first brought up the Rockbells was their skill. Though Butler's arm was quite brilliant, it was also large, in accordance to his large frame. Artemis Senior knew more than enough to realize that it would require less finesse to build, and that his leg would be smaller and finer.

Before he truly had faith in the Rockbells' skills, he'd need to see something smaller.

Artemis rather hoped that he wouldn't share the specifics of his thought process with Edward.

"May I see your automail?" Artemis Senior asked, any number of faint emotions etched across his face – concern, regret, anxiety, all just traces.

Edward looked up at him with some surprise and then smiled easily. "Sure. But, wait-" He stopped Artemis Senior as he started forward and leaned forward to tug up the black leather pant leg of his left leg. At the man's faintly startled look, he tipped his head up and gave a slight smile, hinting understanding but feigning ignorance. "You're getting a leg, right?"

Artemis Senior nodded silently and bent forward quietly to examine the cold steel, finely crafted according to Edward's small body. After a few minutes, he asked, "And it works well?"

"It's perfect," Edward promised, wiggling the foot lightly. With some pride, he added, "Winry designed it herself. I'm her first human patient, but she did the dog's, too." He paused for thought, then added, "Granny'll probably design yours, though."

Artemis Senior 'hm'ed a little, still a little uncertain. Edward smiled again, confident, and continued,

"The feedback mechanism's not bad, either. Nothing like a real leg, obviously, but you'll get a better response than you would from any other automail engineer. The pressure sensor's pretty good. If I had to criticize the thing, I'd say that it needs a lot more day-to-day maintainence than most models, but that shouldn't be a problem if you're gonna stay at home most of the time."

The man nodded slowly and leaned back again, and Angeline helped him back to his feet. "I see. Thank you, Edward, that was most helpful."

Ed grinned, clearly at ease, and leaned back a little, arm responding well even when damaged – something Artemis saw his father take careful note of. "No problem."

"Where is Winry?" Artemis asked. Edward was obviously here to get his automail fixed (Artemis wondered how it had been damaged) but Winry, who always worked on Ed's automail, was nowhere in sight.

"She's just fixing Brother's guard plate," Al provided, startling Artemis' parents slightly. "It has teeth marks in it and it's all crushed."

They chose not to ask.

* * *

**And that's chapter one. Please review! (GODDAMMIT, THERE ARE SPIDERS IN MY ROOM! A LOT OF REALLY SMALL SPIDERS! *cough*)**


	2. Blue Sparks

**A/N: Heheheh... I would have had this up sooner, but, eh, I kept forgetting to edit the chapter. And it needed editing. *grimace* It was choppy, ugh... It still kind of is...**

**Title: And Tempered in Truth**

**Author: liketolaugh**

**Rating: T**

**Pairings: None**

**Genre: Friendship/Drama**

**Warnings: Earth!AU for Fullmetal Alchemist (Amestris is an isolated country located somewhere south of Russia, on the border between Europe and Asia) and slight AU for Artemis Fowl - the events of The Arctic Incident are all shunted forward a year.**

**Summary: Foaly never actually pulled location surveillance on Artemis, and when he goes into the one area monitored by neither humans, nor fairies, he can't help but be suspicious. Holly just wants to know how they missed this.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Artemis Fowl, nor the Fullmetal Alchemist. 'Tis but a dream.**

* * *

Winry came down the steps just as Angeline finally worked up the courage to ask Al, "Why are you in that armor?"

The two brothers froze for a moment – if Artemis had to guess, he'd say they never quite got used to being asked about it – and then Ed lied, "Alchemy training, you know how it goes. Or, I guess you don't, not being from around here and all." He chuckled nervously.

Edward was not a good liar.

Winry chose that moment to enter and started, eyes widening slightly as they fell on Artemis and Butler. Then she smiled. "Welcome back, you two." Then, seeing Artemis Senior, "Oh, are you a new customer? It's nice to meet you." She held out the hand not occupied with the screwdriver, wrench and guard plate, uncrushed and free of mysterious, unexplained tooth marks. "I'm Winry Rockbell."

Artemis Senior smiled and shook her hand in return. "Artemis Fowl Senior. This is my wife, Angeline. If you don't mind, she'll be staying with me, though Artemis and Butler will be leaving soon." And if she did mind, Artemis was certain that there was a small fortune set aside to help convince her. Of course, Artemis knew that wouldn't be necessary, and sure enough…

"That's fine," Winry assured him, smiling unconcernedly. "It's not uncommon at all for a family member to stay nearby while a patient goes through rehabilitation." She let go and returned her attention to Ed, scowling at him, ire returning to her voice like it had never left. "I fixed the guard plate. I don't even _want _to know how you did that to my precious automail. _Honestly, _Ed…"

Ed cringed, but Artemis supposed that Winry had already thrown her wrench and satisfied herself, because she just went over and started to reattach the guard plate, screwing it carefully into place, making Ed wince slightly as each one tightened.

Winry started to explain the automail in a little more detail to Artemis Senior, and Artemis (having heard it all before) said to Edward, "Have you made any substantial progress?"

Ed deflated slightly. "No," he muttered rebelliously. "Just rumors and red herrings. It's a pain in the ass, is what it is." His eyes lit up again. "Oh, yeah!" He reached into his pocket with his left hand and threw something at Artemis, who caught it clumsily. "Ha, take that! I _told _you I could do it!"

Artemis Senior glanced over for the briefest of moments, just long enough to catch sight of what now lay in Artemis' hand, and his eyes widened, darting to Ed and back before Winry recaptured his attention. He looked back to her, valiantly restraining himself from asking after Edward.

Artemis examined the pocket watch in his hands with interest. "I never doubted you for a moment," he said honestly. And it was true; Edward was quite smart, most likely more so than most State Alchemists and possibly more than Artemis himself, though it pained him to admit it. "What name were you given?"

"The Fullmetal Alchemist," Ed said with visible pride.

Artemis 'hm'ed thoughtfully. "Is that so?" he murmured, glancing back to Ed's automail, which Winry had finished fixing.

"It's not because of my automail, dammit!" Ed scowled at him. "Do they call the Colonel Bastard the Flame Alchemist because he's on fire all the time?"

Edward's secondary specialty – and his specialty in the field, apparently – was mineral alchemy, as Artemis well knew. Ed liked it because of the simplicity of combinations and alloys – like math, Edward once said, two plus two makes four – which made it ideal for hasty transmutations. (Secondary specialty, of course, because his true specialty was bioalchemy, practically mineral alchemy's polar opposite in its complexity. But that, of course, was dangerous territory.)

Artemis rather doubted his reasoning, though – just because there was more than one justification for it didn't mean that it wasn't first and foremost due to his automail.

Still, he passed it over, and at that moment, he spotted a shimmer out of the corner of his eye, just outside the window. He glanced up at Butler. "Butler, why don't you take a look outside? Make sure there aren't any, ah. Visitors."

Butler raised an eyebrow, but caught Artemis' pointed glance at the window and nodded in acknowledgment, turning and heading out the door, one hand slipping into his pocket to finger his anti-shield spectacles.

Holly noticed Butler coming out and buzzed up closer to his level. Butler stopped near her, out of sight of the inside of the house, and hissed to him, knowing he knew she was there, "Got any useful tip-offs for me, Mud Man? Even Foaly has no idea what this place is."

Butler chuckled slightly, finding himself only somewhat surprised that the fairies weren't aware of the famously reclusive nation. "This, Miss Short, is Amestris."

Holly frowned, brow furrowed. "Hear that, Foaly?"

_"Loud and clear," _Foaly muttered, half-distracted. She heard the tapping sounds of a keyboard as Foaly did a quick once-over. _"Oh, so that's where it came from."_

"It?"

Of course, now that he knew its name, Foaly would be able to find it in any database. Amestris was very stringent in its security policies, and the other nations humored the small, but powerfully militaristic one – if you were going to find anything about it, you had to look specifically for Amestris. As far as Butler knew, there was very little mention of it anywhere. Most of it might well be on paper.

Not all of it, though.

_"The prosthetic. You've never seen anything like it in Haven, have you?" _Foaly sounded almost admiring; the prosthetic Butler had was more fine-tuned than any mech-limb the fairies had, most likely the only way in which humans were more advanced than fairies. It figured that it would be something like that.

"Well, no. But fairies don't lose a lot of limbs."

"Neither do humans," Butler felt the need to point out.

"Yeah, yeah," Holly dismissed. "Anything else, Foaly?"

_"Not yet. You, on the other hand…" _Foaly sounded mildly stunned. _"Is that the Mud Boy?"_

Holly frowned and looked back up, and her eyes widened slightly. Butler followed her gaze and chuckled; Artemis and Edward had emerged from the house and were talking avidly. Edward was carrying a box of chalk, and he gave a piece to Artemis before taking one for himself and drawing something out carefully on the ground, explaining something to Artemis as he spoke. Holly buzzed a little closer to listen in.

"The earth sigil is the core of the transmutation," Ed was saying. "Since all of the materials come from the ground. Then the symbol for Mars isolates the iron and the vertical line and the cross it makes with the earth sigil's horizontal one gather as much as I need and bring it together, and the square in the circle forms it into the shape I need."

Well. That went entirely over her head. Except for one thing…

"The earth sigil is off center," Artemis noted. He understood. Of course he did. Holly rolled her eyes, previous thought track derailed. Naturally, if there were strange things to be found, Artemis was right on top of it, two steps ahead.

"The horizontal line needs to be in a specific place on the triangle, and the square needs to be centered in the circle," Ed explained, giving him an impatient look. "Since the earth sigil and the cross both make use of the square's bottom line, they need to be a little off center. Now, watch."

Ed pressed his hands to the circle, and Holly gasped as blue sparks erupted from it, skittering into the earth. Within moments, Edward drew a long, iron spear from the ground.

_"D'Arvit," _Foaly breathed.

Artemis tipped his head up to Holly and smirked.

* * *

**That's that done. If anyone else wants to see other FMA stories, by the way, I have a crossover with X-Men that's not really getting looked at. *sigh* It's called Foundations and features Edward as a mutant with fire mimicry, among other things. It's only just begun, but I'd appreciate it if you'd go take a look, and also if you would review this one!**


	3. An Indication of More

**A/N: Done! This chapter is done and kind of short, but... Yeah. Read, please!**

**Thanks to hypercell, KaimelarTheDreamer, zebrastripes150802, urs-v, everdragon, and The Sin of Justice for reviewing!**

**Title: And Tempered in Truth**

**Author: liketolaugh**

**Rating: T**

**Pairings: None**

**Genre: Friendship/Drama**

**Warnings: Earth!AU for Fullmetal Alchemist (Amestris is an isolated country located somewhere south of Russia, on the border between Europe and Asia) and slight AU for Artemis Fowl - the events of The Arctic Incident are all shunted forward a year.**

**Summary: Foaly never actually pulled location surveillance on Artemis, and when he goes into the one area monitored by neither humans, nor fairies, he can't help but be suspicious. Holly just wants to know how they missed this.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Artemis Fowl, nor the Fullmetal Alchemist. 'Tis but a dream.**

* * *

_"This is bad, this is really, really bad," _Foaly panicked in Holly's ear.

As Holly watched, wide-eyed and alarmed, Artemis copied Edward, placing his hands carefully on the array and then slowly, a furrow of concentration in his brow, pulling a small statue out of the ground.

Ed grinned at him, then hopped up and headed back into the house, barging in.

Artemis smirked and rose to his own feet, one slender hand carefully grasping the small, uniformed LEP officer in his hand . "Hello, Holly."

"Artemis," Holly returned shortly, not pausing for pleasantries as she continued, "What in _Frond's name _was that? Surely even you can't come up with a way for Mud Men to perform magic." And that was no kind of magic _she'd _ever seen, besides, but there was no mistaking those blue sparks.

"Actually," Artemis corrected, with deep satisfaction, _"Edward _has been teaching _me." _To Holly's startled look, he continued, eyes on the ground,"Humans may be incapable of performing magic, but we _have _discovered something you fairies seem to have long forgotten: Alchemy."

Holly's brow furrowed. "Turning lead to gold?" she asked, deeply suspicious.

"No. Well, it can do that as well, I suppose. However, _human _alchemy is the science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter, and it can do _much _more than that." Artemis twisted the figure in his fingers, smirking. "It is a science primarily found in Amestris, as it is hazardous by nature, and with the country's ban on outside information, I'm not surprised you haven't seen it." His eyes flashed up to where he knew she hovered, and her fists tightened slightly.

Actually, there were rumors. Holly remembered them from her days in the Academy, spoken in whispers. Humans who could do a sort of magic, magic that was unheard of in fairies. The higher-ups, the Council especially, dismissed them as rogue fairies, discarding the rumors.

Apparently not.

_"Holly." _Foaly had finished panicking and now his voice was low and urgent. Holly could just picture his tail flicking behind him. _"I need you to find out how this is done. If we just let the Mud People do this…"_

It could end in disaster.

Holly was about to reply back, to either one, but at that moment, the door burst open again, and Ed came jogging toward them, gold eyes bright. Artemis looked down from Holly back to the boy.

"Hey, Artemis, not that it wasn't good to see you again, but Al and I gotta head over to East City, alright?"

Artemis smiled, a smile only Butler recognized as mildly dangerous. "Actually, Edward, I was wondering if Butler and I might accompany you. I'd rather like to see the rest of Amestris."

Butler glanced down at Artemis, startled, but the boy glanced at the patch of shimmering air and he understood.

What better way to get the fairies indebted to him than to reveal to them the secrets of 'human magic'?

Ed blinked, faintly startled, but accepted it easily enough. "Oh, sure." He turned and smiled over his shoulder and _how _had Holly missed the gigantic suit of armor before? "It's fine, right, Al?"

"Yeah," Al agreed, voice high and pleased and much younger than someone apparently larger than Butler ought to be.

And that was how Artemis and Butler came to turn right back around to the train, this time with Holly in tow, floating along inconspicuously behind.

Just before they stepped onto the train, Ed paused, frowning… and then turned around and looked right at Holly. She inhaled sharply, flinching back. He didn't move. Neither did she.

He lingered there for a few moments, brow furrowed, gold eyes fixed to her. Holly held her breath, and one slim hand inched toward her Neutrino.

"Brother?" Al questioned, concerned eyes on Ed.

Ed waited a moment longer, and then turned away again, stepping onto the train. "Nothing, Al."

He hadn't seen her.

She let out her breath and followed him, narrowly missing the train doors closing behind her, and followed the boys to where they sat near Artemis and Butler, with Butler across from Artemis and Ed beside the other boy, with Al on the seat behind Butler. Holly took her spot on an empty seat on the other side of the narrow aisle.

"So, Edward." Artemis leaned back slightly, looking out the window. Ed looked up at him questioningly. "How precisely did your exam go?"

For some reason, Ed smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head, flushing slightly. Artemis quirked an eyebrow at him, and Al provided,

"Brother figured out how to do alchemy without a circle - it's something he learned from the Gate. One of the other alchemists knocked over another alchemist's tower, and it nearly fell on them. Brother saved him without a circle and passed."

"Hm," Artemis mused. He smirked slightly. "I suppose I can't say I'm surprised."

Ed gave him a slight frown. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all."

Ed scowled at him, and Artemis smirked, and Ed rolled his eyes. The conversation moved on to other things, and Holly was _bored._

She was less bored when the goblins burst onto the train, though.

* * *

**Like I said, short chapter. On the other hand, the next one promises to be exciting, right? ;) Please review!**


	4. A Spot of Trouble

**A/N: All finished! I really don't have an excuse for why this took so long, other than that school started... yeah...**

**Thanks to urs-v, everdragon, KaimelarTheDreamer, Axenia, and Guest for reviewing!**

**Title: And Tempered in Truth**

**Author: liketolaugh**

**Rating: T**

**Pairings: None**

**Genre: Friendship/Drama**

**Warnings: Earth!AU for Fullmetal Alchemist (Amestris is an isolated country located somewhere south of Russia, on the border between Europe and Asia) and slight AU for Artemis Fowl - the events of The Arctic Incident are all shunted forward a year.**

**Summary: Foaly never actually pulled location surveillance on Artemis, and when he goes into the one area monitored by neither humans, nor fairies, he can't help but be suspicious. Holly just wants to know how they missed this.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Artemis Fowl, nor the Fullmetal Alchemist. 'Tis but a dream.**

* * *

Instantly, Butler, Ed, Holly, and Al jerked their heads up to look, Artemis reacting a little more slowly. While Ed and Al wasted a few minutes being confused, Holly hopped right up, hand going straight to her Neutrino, eyes narrowing. Artemis' eyes sharpened in recognition, and Butler went for his gun.

"Stop, Mud Men!" the first one growled, waving a small Softnose laser. "Or I'll shoot you all in your faces!"

"Stupid!" the second snapped. "If you shoot them all, we won't have any hostages, mud brain!"

"Both of you shut up!" snarled the third and last.

Ed and Al were jolted back to life as a beam shot out of thin air and hit a goblin, knocking it out instantly and causing chaos. Not that there was much chaos to be caused in an empty train car, but the goblins managed between the two remaining.

Al lurched to his feet, red eyes wide, and Ed followed a second later, gold eyes narrowed and focused on the goblins.

Holly cursed to herself and made to move, but, strangely, Ed addressed Artemis.

"You know what's going on?"

Artemis blinked and took a moment to process this. Holly shot the second goblin, which fell over. "Yes. I do," he said cautiously.

Ed nodded decisively. "Great. I'm gonna head up front and work my way back, and Al'll go find anyone behind us, alright?"

Without waiting for an answer, he opened a window and swung out, making Artemis cringe. There was a moment of silence and a thud as Ed landed on the roof, and then a series of thumps as he ran off. Al shrugged at Artemis and turned to clank toward the back of the train, leaving Artemis, Butler, and Holly alone in the train car with the third, slightly stunned goblin.

Holly shot the last goblin and let go of her shield. "You have strange friends, Artemis."

Artemis 'hm'ed noncommitally and made to speak. Butler spoke first.

"Artemis, stay here."

Artemis frowned at him. "Butler, I hardly think-"

Butler's expression was serious. "Artemis, you _cannot _fight, and we won't be doing much else. _Stay here."_

Artemis made to protest, but his eyes slid to Butler's gleaming automail hand – Butler never wore glove, unlike Ed – and nodded.

Someday Butler was going to break him of that, even if it _did _make his job easier. For now, he used it to his advantage, straightening up, all business.

"Holly and I will go meet Ed up front," Butler told Artemis.

"Says who?" Holly muttered, shielding again, but she followed Butler out the door anyway, throwing over her shoulder, "Stay put, Mud Boy."

Artemis was left alone in the train car, feeling slightly foolish. Artemis did not like feeling foolish, so he distracted himself by planning his next few actions.

After all, someone would have to clean up this whole mess with the Elrics and the fairies, and Artemis could easily use this to his advantage.

"Hey! Who shot at me?"

"They weren't shooting at you, mud brain!"

"AH! Big Mud Man!"

Silence signaled the clearing of the next car over, and Artemis smirked slightly, before the smirk fell into a thoughtful frown as he planned and discarded with equal speed.

Ed ducked a tree branch and smirked to himself. It had been a while since he'd done this, but the lessons Hughes had given him after that first misadventure had stuck.

He carefully made his way forward and, with a grunt of effort, threw himself onto the next car, narrowly avoiding sliding off. He squinted at the track in front of him, found the front car two cars ahead, and edged over the smooth train roof.

Two train cars later, he grinned triumphantly and ducked down to peek in through the window.

Four of those strange chimera-like creatures – lizard-human crosses, he would guess, if he hadn't seen the result of human chimera alchemy himself – were arguing over the unconscious body of the what appeared to be the train conductor.

"No, _I _got him!"

"I got him, stupid! You got him _after _I got him!"

"You're both stupid! The Mud Man knocked himself out on the floor!"

Ed snickered to himself at their squabbling and pulled himself back up, pausing to consider. Artemis had better be ready to give him an explanation, was all.

"Shut up!" That was the fourth one, Ed supposed. "It doesn't matter who got him, we only need this human machine to force the LEP to free our brothers!"

There were a few moments of silence, and then one of the others said sulkily, "You're just saying that 'cause you didn't get a shot in."

Another moment of silence, and then a strangled scream of rage and the sounds of those strange guns they had. Ed decided that this would be a good time to drop in and clapped his hands.

When he peeked into the hole, he found the four lizard-creatures firing beams in each others' general direction and not hitting a thing, except the wall. He smirked again and dropped down, yelling and firing covering his entrance.

When he hit the first one – hard over the head with his automail hand – it went down without a sound and another let out a whoop. The whoop died down almost instantly, and its voice rose over all the rest.

"Hey! When did that Mud Boy get here?"

Ed's smirk dropped slightly as they all turned to find him – apparently 'Mud Boy' meant him – and the guns turned from each other to him. He launched himself over the first shot and twisted to avoid another, sweeping one's legs from under them.

"Whoa! Don't tell me you don't look up?"

He used another moment of surprise to knock a gun free, and the creature snarled at him, pointing an open hand that he ignored for now.

"We're not stupid!" the remaining armed creature hissed, _licking its eyeballs. _Ed grimaced. "We know that Mud Men can't fly!"

Ed marvelled at their stupidity, then yelped and dodged another shot, noticing – too late – that the open palm he'd ignored before had both moved and filled with fire.

Ed bit back a scream and jerked away, lashing out with an automail leg to knock the thing out and, in the same moment, jerking off his now-flaming coat to throw it to the ground.

He was left with a bad burn on his left arm and one opponent. He clapped his hands, slammed them to the ground, and was faced with a stunned expression for the briefest of moments before a train-metal fist knocked it out, too.

Ed blinked once, twice, and then realized it was over and smirked slightly, eying the unconscious bodies. In the minutes before Holly and Butler caught up, he rescued his coat, put out the fire, and had started tearing strips off.

The door burst open and Butler entered, deadly as a desert snake, until he realized Ed was the only one both present and conscious. Ed looked up at him and smirked.

"Still too slow, big guy."

* * *

**By the way, I made an edit to the end of the last chapter. It's not that significant, but basically I forgot that I meant for this to take place in the 2003 anime's timeline, so I had to go adjust for that. Thanks for reading and please review!**


End file.
